Dinner Diary: 27/52

Week 27 of Having People Over, and this week we weren’t home at all.

We traveled out of state for a family reunion over the 4th of July weekend, and I was in charge of the food. For three nights. For fifty-plus people. Robby is the youngest of seven kids, which means there are a lot of cousins, grandkids, and now even great-grandkids, with people coming in from Arizona, Texas, Utah, Idaho, and California. It was a lot. It was wonderful. And yes, I cooked for all of them (for the record, I volunteered, and kind of liked it).

Night one was Italian. Seven baked zitis, a mountain of Caesar Salad, and ninety-six Olive Garden breadsticks. I will accept any and all judgment on the breadsticks. They are a crowd pleaser, they travel well, and feeding fifty people is not the moment to get precious about where the bread comes from. They were devoured. Zero regrets.

The 4th of July itself was a classic BBQ: Burgers and Dogs, Homemade Baked Beans using my father-in-law’s wife’s famous recipe, Summer Corn Salad, Watermelon, both dips (French Onion and Dill Pickle, naturally), and Reser’s Potato Salad and Deviled Egg Macaroni Salad for the sides. Reser’s is one of my favorite hacks for feeding a crowd, and I will shout that from the rooftops. It felt like exactly the right way to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday.

Night three was the Sesame Chicken Subs, which at this point have become my most reliable hosting menu for a reason. We grilled an amount of chicken that felt slightly unreasonable, and somehow it all disappeared. That niece who just graduated high school, typically quiet and reserved, declared it the best meal she had ever eaten in her life. I’m choosing to believe her, even if hunger might have been doing some of the heavy lifting there.

One small moment from Italian night that I need to document for posterity: I spilled sauce directly onto my father-in-law. On his shorts. He had to go change. I was mortified. Bob, if you’re reading this, I am still sorry. Those shorts deserved better.

The whole point of this resolution has always been about connection, and sometimes that means family. Getting back in the same room with siblings who live states away, meeting college-aged nieces and nephews who are basically entirely different people than the last time you saw them, snuggling new babies who joined the family since the last reunion, welcoming new in-laws into the fold. That’s community too. Maybe the original kind.

The weekend also took an unexpected turn. One of our nieces ended up in the ER on the 4th with what turned out to be an unexpected Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis. It was a lot to absorb in the middle of what was supposed to be a celebration. But in a strange way, having so much family already gathered meant we could all be there together, in the hospital and back at the house, laughing and crying and holding each other through something hard. She has a long road ahead of her, but she’s surrounded by people who love her, and we’re hopeful. It was a stark reminder, in the middle of all the food and noise and cousin chaos, of what this is really all about.

Fifty-plus people, three nights, ninety-six breadsticks. Still always happy we hosted (even if we were in someone else’s home!).

See you next Sunday at 5.

xo, Kelsey